The Third Terrace of Purgatory
Discovery
by
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Darkness…
A sudden jolt. He was falling. No, not falling, sinking. He kicked his legs hard. He was drowning. His trousers and clothes pulling him down, like a pair of invisible hands tugging at his legs. Harder. Faster. He thrashed his arms through the water. His chest felt as if it would explode with the pressure of holding his breath. Progress. He was rising. A light. A hand seized him by the wrist. As he burst into the fresh air he gasped loudly. Relief. A face came in to vision. He knew that face. The cold steely blue eyes. A scar on the left cheek visible beneath a scruffy beard. He was smiling, but his eyes said otherwise. Something glinted in the light. A knife. It plunged down towards him….
New York, March 7th 1959
“Aaargh…” a cry shattered the silence. He sat bolt upright, disoriented. His shirt was soaked with sweat. He cast his eyes quickly around the darkened room. A narrow shaft of light from the street lamp scythed across the bedroom. A familiar shape shifted next to him, readjusting her position. He wiped his damp brow, and ran his hand through his drenched hair. The man pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it quietly across the room. He glanced at the alarm clock’s luminous hands. He groaned as he saw it was only twenty to two. His heart was still pounding in his ears as he lay back down and pulled the sheets half way over his body. He rolled over to the side and closed his eyes, trying to focus his mind on happier thoughts. But they wouldn’t come. He was torn between the conflict of fear of entering the same dream, and the intrigue of following the path of where it took him. He’d been here before, so many times, and this night the fear won.
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About the Book
Kirk Saunders is Creative Director of a New York based advertising agency, facing a battle for survival in the 1950s. Haunted by his dreams, and with his personal life crumbling around him, Kirk fights to keep the business from plunging into bankruptcy.
His struggle is, however, about to take a very different and personal turn when he meets Max Lombard. There’s something all too familiar about the enigmatic Lombard, but why? As their paths become more intertwined, a shocking realisation strikes Kirk. He must act. But is he too late?
Discovery is the first book of the trilogy, The Third Terrace of Purgatory. It is a fast-paced psychological thriller following one man’s struggle to hold his life together in the face of adversity.
The title draws reference to Dante's Divine Comedy. Mount Purgatory has seven terraces, each one representing one of the seven deadly sins. The Third Terrace represents Wrath, and the novel takes a contemporary view of anger and the journey towards ultimate redemption.
About the Author
Kevin Barker is 45 and a managing director of a large bank in the City of London. He lives at home in Hertfordshire with his wife and two children.
The Third Terrace of Purgatory is his first novel and part of a trilogy.